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EVANS
,
WILLIAM DAVIES
(
1790
-
1872
),
inventor of a chess gambit
;

eldest son of
John Evans
,
of the parish of
St. Dogmaels
and
Mary Davis
of the parish of
Nevern
, who, according to the parish records of
Nevern
, were married on
12 April 1787
. They started life at the farm of
Musland
,
St. Dogmael's
.
William Davies Evans
was born on
27 January 1790
.

It is almost certain that young
Evans
was educated at
Haverfordwest Grammar School
. Unfortunately the school records have been destroyed. In
1804
he
went to sea
and
served in the navy
until the
Napoleonic wars
ended in
1815
. Transferred to the
postal department
, in
1819
, he was the
captain of a sailing packet
, the
Auckland
, running between
Milford Haven
and
Waterford
. During this period he
played a great deal of chess
with a distinguished
chess-player
,
Lieut. Harry Wilson
,
R.N.
It was about
1824
, in a steam postal packet, that he
invented a game opening that is known the world over and in all the game's literature as ‘The Evans Gambit’
.

About
1826 Evans
created a sensation in the chess world by introducing his opening in a famous game in
London
when he defeated
Alexander McDonnell
, the strongest player that
Ireland
ever produced.

In
January 1840 Evans
retired on a pension and spent his time at
London chess clubs
and travelling abroad. He died on
3 August 1872
at
29, Rue Christine
,
Ostend
,
Belgium
, and is buried in the old cemetery in the town. The inscription on his gravestone reads: ‘To the sacred memory of
William Davies Evans
, formerly
Commander
in the
Post Office and Oriental Steam Services
;
Superintendent
in the
Royal Mail Steam Company
, and
inventor of the system of tri-coloured light for shipping
. Also well known in the chess world as the
author of the Evans’ Gambit
.’

Unfortunately, his age is wrongly given as ‘eighty years and six months’.